UNAC Statement on the Situation in Haiti

10/17/22

The United National Antiwar Coalition (UNAC) rejects any and all calls for new occupations of Haiti. United States and Canadian military are already on the ground in the capital of Port-au-Prince under the guise of providing security from gangs when they are in fact repeating the same old playbook, asserting control of Haiti against the will of its citizens.  

The people of Haiti have protested for eight weeks straight against IMF austerity measures and against the United States- and United Nations- imposed puppet government. Yet the show of popular opposition has been relegated by the corporate media, American politicians, and many world leaders to the sphere of criminal activity. 

Haiti suffers from decades of theft of its resources by France and by the United States, and continued interference in its affairs by these countries and the Core Group, a self-appointed group of representatives from US, EU, UN, and Canada. The man currently referred to as Haiti’s president, Ariel Henry, was chosen by the Core Group after Jovenel Moise was assassinated in 2021. Haitians protested en masse for months, calling for Moise’s resignation, but now they have yet another president who was imposed on them.

The history of foreign interference in Haiti’s affairs and the theft of its resources continues. France and the US stole its assets over many decades, and the US Marines were an occupying force from 1915 to 1934. The US continued its control by supporting the Duvalier dictatorship for many years.

The election of Jean Bertrand Aristide was undone by a US coup in 2004 which was followed by a multinational occupation force of UN so-called peacekeepers who committed atrocities including murders and sexual assaults. These forces were responsible for bringing cholera to Haiti, which killed between 10,000 and 50,000 people. Cholera has recently reappeared there. The UN refuses to compensate Haiti for the epidemic and continues to play the role of colonizer. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres repeats the canard of benevolent intent when his organization is a driving forces behind Haiti’s suffering.

The Haitian people have the right to self-determination as established under international law. They are being denied this right because of imperialist control, which is managed by the Core Group and an oligarch class that brings weapons into the country to prevent the people from exercising their democratic rights. The fake concern over gang activity is the manifestation of a larger racist trope which says that Black people cannot manage their own affairs. The people of Haiti would prove these falsehoods to be just that if they were allowed to control their own nation.

UNAC joins with member organization, the Black Alliance for Peace, in calling upon representatives of the People’s Republic of China and the Russian Federation to veto any UN Security Council resolution calling for a UN occupation.

The United States must end its interference in Haiti and respect the sovereign and democratic rights of its people.

Let Haitians Decide!

Stop the UN Invasion of Haiti!

End the Occupations of Haiti!